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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · date · tear · rest · spring · craft · charge · degree

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. degree — from a university
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — of water
  6. chest — of your body
  7. craft — boats
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. chest — a box
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rest — what's left
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. craft — a skill
  17. spring — a coil
  18. degree — temperature
  19. charge — electricity
  20. degree — an amount
  21. charge — a price
  22. tear — to rip
  23. date — the fruit
  24. charge — in control

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com